In this Short chapter, Traysek steps out with Klein and Rela to explore the Luvenlis household, but what are they expecting there? Will the residents be up for a chat or are there other things in the works? find out now!

Chapter 53

Deathly Manor...

At the Luvenlis estate...

Three Dark Elves were kneeling, horns coming out of them, and wearing a yellow tunic over bronze armor. In their left hand, there was a horned lion head while they were grabbing great swords in their right hands.

"All three of you are now Divine Beast Warriors." in front of them was Hildegard, standing with a serious expression and her arms crossed, "Your duty will be to protect the people using all that I gave you."

"Yes!" they all replied, their heads down in a bow.

"Go to where you need to be," Hildegard ordered and the three Elves donned their helms and walked out.

"Working hard, m'lady." the merchant walked to her, removing the hat and mask, showing that he's a Dark Elf, "I heard that the building of the castle has begun."

Hildegard sighed, "I take that you were unable to get more horses."

"Unfortunately, I was only able to get 15 from the towns and villages in the vicinity." the merchant replied.

"Were you attacked..." the Tarnished asked.

"They tried after seeing me pull all that gold," the merchant answered with a chuckle, "But using those yellow flames turned them into empty husks."

Hildegard thought about it briefly before saying, "Listen, Haralvi, rest a little and go north, I heard that there's quite the selection now."

"Of course." the merchant, Haralvi, bowed before walking away.

Hildegard thought for a moment before turning and looking at a castle being built nearby.

Meanwhile, at the front gate, Traysek, Rela, and Klein were standing at it, the former frowning at the surroundings...

"Is this the place...?" The Redguard asked, "It looks... haunted... is anyone even alive around here?"

"Trust me, Sir, this is the place..." Klein assured, looking through the gate, "Although I'm not seeing anyone and I called before coming, they should know we're here...What's going on?"

Rela looked at some strange black roots that were coming out of the ground, forming a giant bulb, "It feels like... death." she commented.

Traysek spotted what she looking at, took a whiff, and grimaced, "Oof and it smells like too, what is that...?"

"If I remember correctly, from what she told me, those are called death root," Klein explained, "Not sure what they're used for, but the smell that comes from them is that...Hope no one's making tea out of this,"

"Who's here!" a man wearing golden armor walked up to them. His armor is golden and filled with designs that have roots and tree branches, as well as a golden plume on the top of the helm.

Klein waved the other two down, "Easy...I'll handle this," stepping forward, "Hello there! We're not here to cause trouble, we're quite expected...I'm Klein, I'm the one who contacted Ladies Fia and Hildegard for an appointment with these two, are they in right now?"

The man stared at them before saying, "Follow me..."

"Of course," Klein answered, turning to the other two, "Come on,"

And with that, the trio followed the gold knight into the estate...

Around them, were various Dark Elves maids, with some having mutations, working on keeping the place clean, and some taking away the furniture somewhere. There were also some spectral beings out of a horror novel, some humanoid creatures filled with horns, others appearing to have a rodent's face and wielding strange spears. a few being some sort of Beastmen with red lightning on their blades... also, among those spectral beings, a few were normal; wolves, knights, soldiers, archer women...

Traysek nodded, impressed by the view, "Wow...compared to our house, it's quite normal..." passing by a large lion head with glowing eyes, following them with its gaze as they passed by, "Almost normal..."

"Almost is right, still compared to our household, it's a nice step from the poison swamps and creatures there," Klein commented, "Despite how scary some of these guys look,"

"It looks like they're moving things..." Rela noticed a couple of maids moving a gold-handled blade and a big tombstone with a fingerprint on it. "Very strange weapons..."

Both men nodded in agreement, as they reached the main house...

As soon as the door opened, a strange spectral knight walked out. The strange part was that he was walking on all four of his limbs and had a great curved sword on his back with claws on his left hand.

The Redguard whistled, "That...that looks frightening, woe to whoever has to fight that..."

Inside the manor, were undead Holy Knights, rotting and mindlessly walking.

"This place reeks of death." Rela whispered to Traysek, "It's like we walked to the plane of the dead..."

He winced, nodding in agreement, "You're telling me, and I've been in places like the soul cairn...This has a different kind of deathly vibe though,"

After a while, they arrived at a door guarded by two knights in decaying gold armor with a black ethereal cape and a black cloth tasset. One wields two short axes while the second wields a longhaft axe.

Traysek lowly whispered, checking out their armor and weapons, which had small arcs of lightning on them...

"Death soldiers that use lightning, that's...a new one..." He said to Rela in a whisper...

"They're strong..." Rela replied, "I don't think that we should make an enemy of them..."

"Good call...If these guys are the reason Rey ran away, I can see why..." He murmured back, as they reached the door.

The knight in the tree-themed golden armor knocked and a feminine voice said, "Enter..."

He got in, stayed a moment, and then opened the door for them to get in.

Klein nodded and ushered both Traysek and Rela in, being the last one through the door before it closed...

Inside was an office with a brown-haired woman standing next to it, looking outside, she was wearing black armor and a red cape.

Klein smiled upon seeing her. "And there she is," is the first up to the desk. "Hildy! I'm glad you accepted the invitation! How've you been?"

A long katana was pulled and the tip was on Klein's throat, "What did you call me?"

He gulped and froze, "I'm sorry...I-I meant Hildegard," in a shaking tone, hearing a chuckle from the Captain.

"I like her style already!" Traysek commented from behind, snickering.

The weapon disappeared in a cloud of golden dust, "So, why are you here?"

"That friend I was telling you about, that's him and his second there," The dark knight sighed, moving out of the way as Traysek approached.

"Hello there~ I'm Traysek, Sword defender and guild master of the Nightgale Syndicate," He introduced himself with a bow, "It's good to meet you finally, Ms. Hildegarde, I've heard things~ from him right there and from another Tarnished you be may be familiar with, the name Sylla ring any bells?" with an eyebrow raised.

"Met her in the Roundtable hold once... then interfered in one of my jobs." Hildegard replied arms crossed, "You're her new boyfriend or what?"

"Spot on," Rela commented.

Traysek frowned deeply, "We've had a couple of nights together, so we're quite acquainted, yes," he admitted, "But If you're worried that I'm here for something that's going on between you and her, you can put that fear to rest, I didn't know either one of you at the time, it's not my place to judge...I sought you on own volition, not hers,"

Hildegard raised an eyebrow and said, "I have no reason to be afraid. Besides, knowing her, she'd be here herself if it's about the past. She isn't the kind to cower behind someone."

Traysek nodded, "Naturally, and seeing what she's capable of on the battlefield, I can believe that," he complimented, clearing his throat after, "But, the reason I'm here for you, I'll keep it blunt, I'm here if to see if I can win over a friend and ally, as well as a possible business proposition, should that take your interest of course," with a genuine smile.

"As long as you're not asking for any of my armor or weapons, I'm all ears," Hildegard replied.

He slightly winced at that, "O...kay...Well, that was what the proposition would've been on...Not a fan of parting ways with them or are they privatized...? either way, I can understand,"

"Do you have any idea what I've been through to get those weapons?" Hildegard asked, summoning a great trident, "This was the weapon of a Demi-God that I've killed after numerous attempts." she then summoned another one, a blood-red katana, "For this one, I had to kill a master swordsman who invaded me." she then summoned a halberd that looks like Niall's, "For this one, I fought a Commander in the most dangerous place and him using Scarlet Rot," She then summoned two black large swords, "And these two were from one of the mightiest Demi-Gods in the Shattering, and had to fight him 12 times before claiming a victory." her face turned serious, "Now, tell me why I should give or sell them away to someone who knows nothing of what I've been through to get them? If it was for someone who'd serve me like those who were tortured here, I'd accept since I'd win something valuable, but what will I gain from you?"

Traysek blinked twice, "I understand, but..." with a large sweat drop, "I'm not here for any ultra rare weapons, I understand those are keepers...Trust me, I got a few myself in my world," waving her down, "I'm talking about different kinds of poisons and weapons crafted from them, throwables, coating gels, things like that,"

"I see, but it won't be cheap." Hildegard replied, "Lightning Grease is 10.000 gold, Magic Grease is 8.000 gold, Poison Grease is 15.000 gold, Fire Grease is 7.000 gold, Soporific Grease is 9.000 gold, and Freezing Grease is 10.000 gold, and each price is for one unit."

The Redguard nodded in approval, "Ah, so you charge gold, good, I have quite a bit to spare," thinking on something, "What about for throwing knives and or pots?"

"A set of ten throwable bones is 4.000 gold, the poison one is 8.000 gold for each set of ten." Hildegard added, "As for the pots... they're glued to me... if you took one, it'll get back to me without any possible explanation. Thankfully, I found a way to get copies of those pots; the firepots are 4.500 gold each, the poison ones are 8.000 gold each, the lightning ones are 7.500 gold each, the sleeping ones are 6.500 each, and the freezing ones are 9.500 gold each."

"I see, those prices are quite fair, to be honest," Traysek hummed in agreement, "But what about anything scarlet rot? you didn't mention that..."

"Scarlet Rot is off-limits!" Hildegard snapped, "Such a thing is too powerful to be used by anyone! One wrong use and there will be another Caelid! I'm a responsible Elden Lord, and I don't give things like Scarlet Rot to someone I don't trust who knows how to use them without endangering those around him. Scarlet Rot has the power to kill gods, so don't wait to see it around to be given like it's harmless."

The Redguard slowly nodded, "Easy, I'm not in the market for it...Currently...Just wondered if you had it... the sleep and poison are enough for now," he waved down, "Besides, I've already had a taste of what Scarlet Rot can do, been infected by it from another Tarnished, one working with or for Volt and his boys... A man named Gideon Ofnir, know him...?"

"Nearly everyone from the Lands Between knows him." Hildegard answered, "Genocide, manipulation, lying... he's known to employ individuals like Omenkillers and Depraved Perfumers, as well as another Tarnished who obeys to his every word; Ensha of the Royal Remains. He did try to stop my ascension as Elden Lord after that, I gained the Rune of Death, but he couldn't stop me."

"Well, let's just say, he's got himself quite a new hobby," The Redguard informed, "One that's not only a thorn in my side, but to everyone's as well,"

"As long as he's away from I don't care." Hildegard shrugged, "And it doesn't mean that I'll give you anything that can inflict Scarlet Rot."

He shook his head, "That's not why I mentioned him, I'm not trying to fight fire with fire...especially with that shit, no," he laughed off, "The fact that I know you have rot weapons, means you've also got the cures to it as well, correct...?"

"If you mean the Bolusus, yeah, I have them." Hildegard nodded.

The Redguard smiled, "Okay then, how much would you be willing to let those go for?"

"Each Bolus is 2.000 gold." the Elden Lord replied.

The Redguard nodded at that, "Alright, that's not a bad price, very affordable...Ok, I think we can reach an accord there," he grinned, "I'll make a list of what I want soon, but, those preserving boluses are going to come in handy when we have to deal with Gideon and his rot infested zones...As for the poison and sleep wares you have, those will be heavily used amongst the guild, so you'll have a constant customer on that front,"

Hildegard said nothing and turned back to the window, looking outside.

The Redguard nodded at the other two, before turning his gaze back to her, "Alright, guess that's that, we're going to take off here, but before we do..." Raising an eyebrow, "Are there other dangerous elements other than scarlet rot to watch out for...?"

"There's also the Deathblight." Hildegard answered, "Being inflicted for more than 1 minute leads to death directly... and yes, I have weapons, spells, and items that can inflict it, and no, I won't sell it to anyone."

He frowned at that, "Now that one...I've never heard of... what goes into being Deathblighted...?"

"First, there's the contact stage as it doesn't appear on you. Second, comes the First Apparition, which means that it can no longer be cured, and is symbolized by black branches coming out of the body... And then death." the Elden Lord explained, "Once a single vine comes out of the body... the victim can only wait for death as it's incurable."

"Gods...that sounds painful...and you said branches...?" He asked, "Would those be the same branches we've seen outside to these strange roots out there?"

"They're the same, but different; the source is the same, but what they do is different." Hildegard replied, "Deathroot serves as an amplifier to death while Deathblight infests the body and kills the host."

"Good to know, I may need boluses there too," The Redguard nodded in thought, "Thanks for the insight there, I'll know what to look out for...When I'm ready for your services, I'll send a list with the gold amount...And if you need anything from my side of the fence, I may or may not have what you're looking for...Until next time~" turning to the other two, "Let's go,"

Rela only silently nodded.

Once Traysek and Rela started for the door, Klein took a deep breath and gave a bow...

"It was good seeing you again, I'll be in touch," The dark knight assured, being the last of out of the office.

Once outside, Rela whispered in an extremely low tone, "Something was off about her..."

Traysek slowly nodded, "Felt like we were facing an undead instead of a person, right? I got that notion too, she exuded that aura," he slightly shivered, "Just like the dark blades and their deathly auras..."

"There's more than that..." Rela added, "I felt something divine coming from her... there was holy energy mixed in it..."

He thought on that, "I did notice that too, strange...You wouldn't think so with how it looks around here either, I guess even the aspect of it is holy in some way,"

"So...when are you going to make purchases with her...? you seemed more than eager back there," Klein added in.

"When and if I need to, for now, we're set on current poisons and tranquilizers, but I also know...that stock tends to run out once they're being used and given the number of people that'll be using them..." Traysek went on with.

The Dark Knight nodded, "Right, you would need a way to keep that flowing, I can see why you did it now...Makes sense... You can't with the plants back home in case your ingredients run low..."

"Correct," The Redguard nodded, "And We used a lot of our resources already before getting this started, with most of it going toward the black fortress's assault in the beginning to the battle of Feoh...we've got enough to last a couple of months, and for smaller numbers, but later down the line when those numbers start climbing..."

"Therefore, you'd need a reliable source," Rela concluded.

He frowned at that, "Hmm, you don't think the tarnished we just met will be...?" an eyebrow raised.

"It felt like she didn't care about your well-being..." Rela replied, "Or, more precisely, she doesn't have faith in you. The last time I saw that, the one who lost faith was betrayed a lot of times."

He shrugged, "It's to be expected, it's not like she owes me her life or anything, I can expect not to be trusted first thing, that's natural... there will come a time where that'll shift,"

"What's the plan now?" Rela asked.

"Considering how late it's getting, we'll head home," He told them while channeling a portal spell, "There's still the meeting with the Masson guild and I'm not missing out on that, our debut starts after their services,"

Rela only nodded to it.

And once Klein went through, both Traysek and Rela followed behind, the portal closing behind them...

Erdora...

Sylla looked around, marveling at the village.

"What kind of miracle can save a place gone to the ground to elevate it to such high..." she wondered aloud.

Looking around, she noticed a few shops, as well as restaurants.

"Now then..." she cracked her hands and neck, "Let's go enjoying this place!" she began going left and right, buying so much stuff as it was cheaper than she thought.

She began first with some bottles of wine before continuing with clothes and a basket of fruits.

Meanwhile, 'Enroute to Hroka Fortress...

In the moonlight, on the traveling path, a holy carriage slowly carried on undisturbed... While the ride was silent, due to most of the knights sleeping, Rey was up, staring at his family photo, sighing deeply...

'Soon...We'll soon get back what we lost...' narrowing his eyes on a certain blonde boy, 'Even you...Brother... despite this being your fault... Honor will be gained back for you too...hopefully,' he mused, putting away the photo, and turning his gaze to the nightly sky...

To be continued...

And so ends this short chapter... One more day before I reach the number 30 in age...geez... Once again, thank you all who have stayed tuned to this :) Your support is always valued, and we look forward to future chapters with you :) Especially with the upcoming arc... stay tuned for that one :) Now onto reviews...

VGBlackwing: We've already talked in PM and I told you what I thought on that matter, but your right, they would be the types to ignite that if unchecked, that's for sure...

OniTenshi500: I'll let that part with Lorel show itself in upcoming chapters, make no mistake his motives will be quite clear later... Also on the characters... Nothing that outlandish, especially with Balbuddy bit XDDD, THIS Mirrak is from Dihya's timeline, the female Dragonborn in this... as well as her adopted daughters Lucia and Sophie, more from them later, don't worry, but the characters will be intuned with that universe...But nothing over the top, thought about it though...But we're keeping things relatively tame for now...

Well then, with the reviews out of the way, I'll see you all next time :) May the gods...Watch over your stories friends, take care :*